Education, From The Capitol To The Classroom

Stories about students: How does education policy affect the way students learn and grow? Can schools meet their needs as they balance ramped-up testing with personal changes and busy schedules? And are students who need help getting it?

Stories about educators: How are those responsible for implementing education policy in schools − from classroom teachers, to district administrators, to school board members − affected by changes at the top? And how well do they meet their challenge of reaching students with varying abilities and needs?

Stories about school assessment: With an increased push for 'accountability' in schools, what can test scores tell us about teacher effectiveness and student learning − and what can't they tell us? What does the data say about how schools at all levels are performing?

Stories about government influence: Who are the people and groups most instrumental in crafting education policy? What are their priorities and agendas? And how do they work together when they disagree?

Stories about money: How do local, state, and federal governments pay to support the education policies they craft? How do direct costs of going to school − from textbooks to tuition − hit a parent or student's bottom line? And how do changing budgets and funding formulas affect learning and teaching?

ESSA gives states a little more flexibility with how they grade schools and students, including allowing a state to include their own measurements.

The Indiana Department of Education announced Friday what the new additions will be for Indiana schools.

The first new measure schools will be graded on is chronic absenteeism. This is the data point the IDOE chose to use for assessing a schools “climate and culture,” which is required under ESSA. Rather than punishing a school with a high absentee rate, a school will earn higher scores for students attending school regularly and those whose attendance is improving.

Maggie Paino, director of accountability for the DOE, says they went with absenteeism because if students improve their attendance, other academic factors will improve.

“There is so much research showing that a student, in order to learn, really has to be in attendance,” Paino says.

Paino says the state’s attendance goal is 50 percent of schools with either improving attendance or their students attending 98 percent of school days throughout the year.

The other new measure will look at how English learners are mastering the language.

This will be determined by the growth English learners show on an assessment that tests their English skills. If a student improves on that assessment or if they get to English proficiency, that helps the school’s A-F grade. This will be used for children in kindergarten through 12th grade – that’s earlier than previous measurements, because so many English learners are in the early grades.

The State Board of Education must approve the changes at their July meeting. If approved, the DOE will send the plan to the U.S. Department of Education in September.